Factual TBIvision.com April/May 2017
Distributed by Produced by NHNZ in co-production with PBS, CCTV9, ZDF, ZDF Enterprises, Discovery International, Channel 9 and Arte
FactualpOFC AprMay17.indd 1 22/03/2017 17:55 Anzeige_Titelgestaltung_TBI_Big_Pacific_MIPTV2017_RZ_02.indd 1 13.03.17 22:23 FactualpIFC RGTV AprMay17.indd 1 16/03/2017 17:41 CONTENTS INSIDE THIS ISSUE
This issue 12
2 2 Factual franchise building Channels and factual producers are increasingly looking to build doc series into fully-fledged franchises, TBI discovers 4 Viewpoint Derren Lawford, creative director, Woodcut Media 6 CNN thriving amid Trump media assault CNN boss Jeff Zucker issues a strong defence of the news channel amid attacks from Donald Trump and says recent events are good for business 8 8 Deep blue chip First there was Planet Earth and then Planet Earth II. Now there is Blue Planet II 10 NHK’s Phoenix to rise in Cannes Tokyo Phoenix: the rise of Modern Japan offers a unique insight into the Japanese capital. TBI hears from its French and Japanese producers 12 We’re going on a millennials hunt Factual shows are gaining fans, Emily Bright talks to execs about how docs can woo millennials 16 Last Word Thomas Viner, creative director, Pioneer Productions 10
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Factualp01 Contents AprMay17scJW.indd 3 22/03/2017 21:50 TBI FACTUAL DOCUMENTARY TRENDS
Franchise building At the high-end docs are becoming big franchises and at the other end of the market lower cost franchises are being built around experts and on-screen talent. TBI investigates
Apocalypse The Battle for Verdun
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Factualp02-03 Trends AprMay17scJW.indd 2 22/03/2017 21:52 TBI FACTUAL DOCUMENTARY TRENDS
rands and franchise building are historically associated with movies and TV drama but in recent times have become common in the world of docs. “The key trend Bwe see, and not just in history and wildlife, is docs constructed as brands,” says Eurodata TV research executive Candice Allesandra. She cites French-originated Apocalypse is a prime example. Clarke Costelle & Co. made the original series Apocalypse: the Second World War, which performed well on France Télévisions and internationally. It has gone on to spawn Apocalypse Hitler, Apocalypse Stalin, Apocalypse 10 Lives, Apocalypse World War 1 and now, two-parter Apocalypse: The Battle for Verdun, which FranceTV Distribution is selling. Apocalypse: an Impossible Peace is, meanwhile, in production. “The producers have constructed a new brand and that’s something viewers can identify,” Allesandra says. Planet Earth II and now Blue Planet II (see page 8) are other examples of blue-chip doc brands, but there are other ways of creating a doc franchise. “It can also help to have a famous host who embodies the subject, such as David Attenborough,” Allesandra says. “In the UK there’s also the likes of Lucy Worsley and Reggie Yates.” The former’s numerous BBC shows include British History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley and Six Wives with Lucy Worsley. Yates has fronted Reggie Yates in a Texan Jail, Reggie Yates in the Mexican Drug War andReggie Yates: Hidden Australia (which has forced the BBC to apologise for misleading viewers after a funeral wake was allegedly misrepresented as a party). Presenter Planet Earth II and journalist Stacey Dooley can be added to the list with her Stacey Dooley Investigates series. fronted accessible docs for Nelonen and YLE in reality well suited to factual projects. Meanwhile, The presenter-led franchise is not, however, Finland and SVT in Sweden. a divide is opening between the main SVOD just a UK phenomenon. In the Nordics, stage Technological innovation is also driving platforms and the TV players. and film actor Ville Juhana Haapasalo has change in the doc world, with 4K and virtual “Digital players are less interested in animals and history and prefer to tell a contemporary story, such as Netflix withMaking a Murderer or hostages series Captive, or Amazon’s Novak Djokovic doc Novak,” Allesandra says. “The key trend we see, and not Not everything has to be big, she adds. “The trend we see is for either big, identifiable just in history and wildlife, is docs brands, or smaller docs with specialised subject constructed as brands” matter,” she says. “These can be successful Candice Allesandra too, especially in regions such as Scandinavia, which is well known for making factual projects about societal topics, which are usually smaller and more local.” TBI
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Factualp02-03 Trends AprMay17scJW.indd 3 22/03/2017 21:52 VIEWPOINT DERREN LAWFORD, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, WOODCUT MEDIA VIEWPOINT DERREN LAWFORD How film talent got invested in docs ctors have been more great example is Kevin Hart’s two-hour special this article, which is indicative of another than doing their bit for in which he will star and executive produce factor driving the world of Hollywood actors documentaries for quite some – Kevin Hart Presents: The Black Man’s Guide to and documentaries together: the TV industry’s time. Take Robert Redford, one History. His audience is used to him making “pursuit of premium”, propelled into overdrive of the driving forces behind them laugh and no doubt he and the History by the likes of Netflix. SundanceA Film Festival. In 2011, four out of five cable net hope he’ll do that and help them learn The SVOD services have positioned of the Oscar-nominated documentaries were a thing or two along the way. themselves as premium global platforms Sundance films first. Then there’s Tribeca, also Then, of course, there are the unadulterated with big-budget drama, critically-acclaimed driven by a Hollywood heavyweight in Robert passion projects that actors are keen to be comedies and high-quality documentary De Niro. involved in. At Woodcut Media, we’ve been acquisitions, and the bar for tent-pole shows What’s new, though, is how invested major fortunate enough to work on two Idris Elba has risen significantly across all the major Hollywood actors are becoming in individual documentaries, which delve into his passion for platforms and TV networks with global reach. films and projects, motivated by a combination music (Mandela, My Dad and Me) and fashion Discovery’s Idris Elba: Fighter has certainly of factors. (Cut From a Different Cloth), both of which have upped the ante for immersive docs. For one, documentaries can give you an been picked up by Netflix globally. These types of programmes are not without overtly political platform that your acting roles However, I must confess that as a producer, risk, and arguably the people most in danger might not allow. it’s the films where fiction meets fact and life are the producers themselves. Why? Because Leonardo DiCaprio’s passion for environmental imitates art that you kick yourself for not having increasingly the investment of an actor in issues is well documented off screen, and he thought of. unscripted is as much a financial move as it is brought Before the Flood, executive produced by Take Morgan Freeman’s Emmy-nominated personal and professional. Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, to the turn in The Story of God. The proposition is Appian Way Productions, Green Door big screen as a theatrical doc before it aired on devastatingly simple and effective: “Watch the Pictures, HartBeat Productions and National Geographic in the US. man who’s played God explore God for real.” It Revelations Entertainment, the production Fellow Academy Award winner Geena Davis was so good, National Geographic has ordered companies owned by Leonardo, Idris, Kevin has been an outspoken critic of female portrayal a second series. and Morgan respectively, are all involved in in TV and film, which saw her set up the Geena Here we see the actor working as a shortcut the actors’ factual films. Davis Institute on Gender in Media. She’s to big topics, very much like Di Caprio’s next This means that inevitably there’s an now teamed up with CreativeChaos VMG to big factual outing, Frontiersmen, an eight-part element of editorial control and financial gain produce an untitled feature documentary on extravaganza, again for History, which builds that needs to be shared. From my experience gender disparity in Hollywood. on his Oscar-winning performance in The this also has added benefits. When big names Unscripted programming can also empower Revenant. make documentaries for the small screen, actors and their fans to delve into cultural You might have noticed the liberal sprinkling there’s always a danger that they can be seen issues they might not otherwise explore. A of the word “Oscar” and “award winner” in as “vanity” projects. However, if the talent’s company is involved and they’re looking to ensue a return on their investments, then What’s new is how invested major it’s in the best interests of everyone that the narrative arc feels like more than a high-profile Hollywood actors are becoming on-screen lark. There’s also no denying the marketing in individual films and projects… muscle a globally recognisable face can innately bring, and in the current climate, documentaries can give you a platform with docs having to work harder to punch through, a little star power can go a long way that your acting roles may not allow to enhancing the appeal of your film. TBI
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CNN thriving amid Trump media assault
CNN boss Jeff Zucker claims the media is under assault and politicians are failing to address US president Donald Trump’s attacks on journalists, but that his news network is thriving with political events driving record ratings and revenue. TBI reports peaking at an INTV session labelled ‘The War on Truth’, CNN boss Jeff Zucker told delegates at the Jerusalem-held event that while he wasn’t planning to send President STrump a “thank you note”, the increased interest in TV news “has been good for the bottom line”. Recent events, and the reaction of CNN and others to them, have sparked a “renaissance of journalism in America”, according to Zucker. “I actually think many of the news organisations in the United States have never done better work and more important journalism,” he said. “We’ve done an excellent job that I’m incredibly proud of,” he added. “Our audiences are at an all-time high on television and our digital properties, and obviously that also accrues to the bottom line and is good Jeff Zucker and Yonit Levi financially.” In the INTV keynote was moderated by Israeli news anchor Yonit Levi. In it, Zucker up for free media and freedom of the press. same per episode as the entire cast of NBC’s said that the Trump administration’s moves The two notable exceptions have been John ultra-successful sitcom Friends – about US$6 to restrict access to press conferences, as well McCain and Lindsey Graham, two Republican million dollars – but then accepted a slight as the regime’s ongoing labelling of much senators.” raise, putting him on under US$1 million per coverage as ‘fake news’, was “dangerous and The CNN chief acknowledged his network episode. unprecedented”. had covered Trump’s early rallies in depth and The CNN exec also spoke about Trump CNN has been the subject of much of said he regretted giving the then presidential alluding to getting him his job at the helm of Trump’s ire with its correspondents refused candidate so much unfettered air time. “It CNN after recommending him to then-Turner the opportunity to field questions and frozen wasn’t the best editoral call,” he said. “If I CEO Phil Kent. He added that the last time he out of events. Much of its output, along with could go back, I would do it a different way.” spoke to Trump was on December 2 last year, that of many other news organisations, has Zucker, who refused to answer whether when the president called to complain about a been labeled ‘fake news’ and more recently he, or his journalists, has received threats in guest on CNN. ‘very fake news’. the wake of Trump’s attacks, also spoke about Aside from talking about the tempestuous Trump has also indicated he does not his role in bringing the president to TV. The CNN-Trump relationship, Zucker talked support the sale of Turner-owned CNN’s Apprentice, the reality show fronted by the about the future of his news net as it looks to ultimate parent, Time Warner, to US telecoms president, launched while he head of NBC, exploit digital platforms and build upon last company AT&T. “Mark [Burnett] brought [The Apprentice] year’s acquisition of Beme, a social media app In an uncompromising response to to us,” Zucker said. “As a New Yorker, I created by YouTuber Casey Neistat. the president’s criticism, Zucker said that understood the appeal of Donald Trump in CNN’s millennial audience far eclipses politicians have failed to stand up to Trump terms of his ability to create publicity and a big that of Vice and Buzzfeed and other services and defend the free speech amid attempts to commotion. I understood that with Donald that skew younger than CNN, whose average “delegitimise many aspects of the American Trump in the middle of it, even if it didn’t US viewer is 58-years-old, Zucker claimed. system”. work, it would get a tremendous amount of “Vice et cetera all do a really good job, but our “Many of them are afraid in general and attention.” millennial audience dwarfs them,” Zucker afraid of Trump,” he said. “Many of them He went on to relate how after the success said. “They wish they had the millennial have abdicated their responsibility in standing of the show, Trump has asked to be paid the audience we have.” TBI
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Factual p07 TerraMater AprMay17.indd 1 20/03/2017 12:04 MONITOR BLUE PLANET II Deep blue chip After the ratings and critical success of Planet Earth II comes Blue Planet II. Stewart Clarke speaks to the producers and distribution bosses looking to make the latest natural history epic a global hit, 15 years after the original took viewers under the sea Filming technology and the editorial approach have moved on since the original series, Reynolds adds. “Storytelling has changed,” he says. “It’s a balance between being true to the animals’ behaviour and allowing the audience to engage with the emotional part.” Honeyborne agrees that production and editorial techniques have evolved since the first series. “Where possible we focus on individual [animals] now because it makes for more dramatic storytelling but is still true to nature. It’s not dramatised but it is filmed as unfolding character pieces.” That helps bring in the younger viewers that broadcasters crave, he adds (see Factual goes Millenial on p12, TBI Factual). “New audiences and younger audiences are really important to us, and we have to find ways of reaching them,” he says. “It has been a generation, and we hope this millennial audience will find a way to connect with life beneath the ocean waves through the stories we tell and the awesome big set pieces. The health of the oceans is at a tipping point, and falling in love ntil February, the BBC’s new behaviours filmed in new ways, and new with them is the first step in caring for them.” upcoming blue-chip series technologies that allowed us to go to places The series addresses the environmental for 2017 was known as Ocean. we hadn’t been to before and find animals we issues, notably in the final episode, which But in the wake of the success didn’t even know existed.” homes in on the latest science. In terms of of Planet Earth II, the aquatic Sir David Attenborough returns to narrate scientific knowledge,Blue Planet II contributes Useries took a leaf from its land-based forbear the new series, which will launch later this by showing the experts footage of new species and became Blue Planet II. With a huge year and runs to 7x60mins, with episodes and behaviour. investment at stake, capitalising on brand split across different habitats plus the now “We didn’t just report new scientific stories, recognition from the original Blue Planet and obligatory additional installment looking at the we’re making the science and showing Planet Earth II makes sense for all the partners revolutionary filming techniques used, and scientists things they didn’t know happened,” who have sunk million into the watery epic. the making of the series. BBC Studios’ NHU Honeyborne says. “There are 15 papers being It wasn’t always the plan to rename the new will make the show alongside copro partners prepared on stuff we filmed, and that feels like show, according to James Honeyborne, BBC America, WDR and France Télévisions. a new synergy between science and media, series executive producer. “No, we announced As with Planet Earth II, which was originally which is very exciting.” this as Ocean, but we were open minded and titled One Planet, Ocean was renamed just If the defining moment of Planet Earth II have always known it has the same scale, as the BBC Worldwide’s Showcase event was the now legendary iguana-versus-snakes breadth and ambition as the original Blue in Liverpool began, with the commercial sequence, what scenes from Blue Planet II Planet series,” he says. arm of the UK pubcaster selling the series will light up social media? The early money “It’s 20 years ago that film crew went out internationally. “It is a key piece for later in the is on a never-before-seen sequence that to make the original, which aired in 2001. year,” says BBC Worldwide factual chief Mark captures a fish leaping from the water to There is a generational gap and we have new Reynolds. “We hope it can replicate the Planet catch a bird, an event that was previously just stories to tell. If there is a principal selling Earth II success; the same ambition, and use a fisherman’s tale but is caught on camera in point it is newness: new species, new places, of technology, is brought to bear.” the new series. TBI
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Factualp09 Red Bull AprMay17.indd 1 17/03/2017 10:31 MONITOR NHK NHK’s Phoenix to rise in Cannes NHK will unveil a Japan-France copro about the rise of Tokyo at MIPDoc. The producers and distribution team tell TBI about Tokyo Phoenix: The Rise of Modern Japan
he Japanese capital of Tokyo is the world’s most densely populated city and synonymous with fast-paced modern high- tech living. It has, however, Tbeen completely destroyed twice, once by a volcano and once by war. Tokyo Phoenix: The Rise of Modern Japan tells the tale of the city from 1905 onwards using never-seen-before colourised archive footage. A coproduction between Japanese pubcatser NHK, French cultural net Arte and Apocalypse prodco CC&C, the series is being sold internationally by France’s Terranoa. Buyers will get to see the doc at a special screening at MIPDoc. The France-Japan link is goes deeper than doc-financing and distribution. Although NHK has a vast collection of film, the historical footage used in Tokyo Phoenix: The Rise of CC&C is expert in restoration, a technique “Olivier Julien’s intricate mission was to work Modern Japan was unearthed from various used heavily in its Apocalypse docs. “They from these images and to give a non-Japanese archives throughout the world, says Shinji are pioneers in the colourisation of black- audience the keys to fully understand them,” Iwata, Director, NHK. “Some of the earliest and-white-film and it was an eye-opener for she says. “The 100 years period covered in the images of Tokyo dating between the end of the NHK team,” Iwata says. “Even in this film was also a challenge, since we wanted to the 19th and early 20th century, were taken computerised age, a large portion of the render the atmosphere and the inhabitants’ by French motion picture companies Lumière colourisation process is done by hand. Their state of mind for each pivotal moment.” With the Olympics headed to Japan in 2020, broadcasters are sure to be looking “In the years leading up for programmes related to the Tokyo, which NHK had in mind when it made the Japanese to 2020, we expect there version. to be much attention and “In the years leading up to 2020, we expect there to be much attention and demand for demand for stories stories about Tokyo,” Iwata says. “We hope about Tokyo” the programme will appeal to broadcasters Shinki Iwata, NHK from all parts of the world, as it is a universal story about modernisation and the birth of a megalopolis.” The NHK exec adds that looking back at the and Gaumont Pathé,” he adds. colour artists were sensitive to and responded history of the city is an unusual perspective. The producers also sought out privately to NHK’s most detailed demands.” “When foreigners talk about Tokyo, they owned collections for this project. “They CC&C production manager Anne-Séverine invariably use words like ‘cutting edge’, and discovered a broad spectrum of events and des Longchamps says Iwata and his team ‘futuristic’, but seldom do they show interest aspects of Japanese life captured in home uncovered a treasure trove of footage, and in the past,” he says. “The same goes for movies,” Iwata says. “Tokyo Phoenix: The Rise the challenge for director Olivier Julien was the Japanese: NHK had never produced a of Modern Japan is chock-full of images that making the images relavant and accessible to programme with an overview of Tokyo’s even the Japanese had never seen before.” an international audience. history as the main theme.” TBI
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p10 NHK monitor AprMay17scJW.indd 22 22/03/2017 21:55 PSYCHOLOGICALLY COMPELLING TRUE CRIME SERIES 104 x 30’
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Factualp11 Zodiak AprMay17.indd 1 16/03/2017 14:38 I MARRIED A MURDERER_TBI_FP_AD_AW.indd 1 16/03/2017 10:24 GENRE FOCUS FACTUAL FOR MILLENNIALS
We’re going on a millennials hunt
With Planet Earth II beating reality TV programmes to audiences – including those crucial, lucrative millennials – Emily Bright talks to natural history documentary producers and channels about how they’re attracting new audiences
he BBC’s seminal natural history A total of 12.26 million people viewed and beyond the standard factual television. “It’s documentary Planet Earth II beat the first episode of the David Attenborough- a beautifully crafted series for a start, with the The X Factor in the UK Christmas fronted series, 40.9% of the TV viewing public, voice of Attenborough on top of it, music by ratings stake last year, even among meaning it became the highest rating natural Hans Zimmer, and amazing technology, but 16-34s, a clear sign that millennials, history documentary in 15 years. Its second the point is it’s doing more.” Toften maligned for short attention spans and episode, ‘Mountains’, was watched by 1.8 The influence of Attenborough, wildlife superficial lifestyles, warm to blue-chip factual million 16-34-year-olds, compared to X Factor’s broadcasting’s most well-known talisman, programming when it’s great TV. The doc 1.4 million in the same week. played its part, as did new filming and series’ dramatic shooting style and state-of-the- Anthony Geffen, CEO and creative storytelling techniques. art camerawork seemed to draw in new and director of Atlantic Productions and a regular Geffen says the entire genre is changing: younger audiences, and signalled a shift within collaborator with Attenborough, says the BBC “Now that the cameras and technology are going the natural history programming sector. Studios Natural History Unit series went above into the animal’s perspective is really significant.”
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Factualp12-15 Nat History AprMay17jwSC.indd 12 22/03/2017 15:22 GENRE FOCUS FACTUAL FOR MILLENNIALS
have had a minor impact on the Australian election, as citizens seemed to take the importance of the Great Barrier Reef into the voting booth. While only a small percentage dive on the reef, visitors flooded into 100-200 seat theatres ten times a day. Geffen hopes to capitalise on the opportunity wth millennials with Atlantic’s Mission Galapagos on BBC One, as part of a three-part series which will air in early 2017. It features presenter Liz Bonnin taking part in a scientific expedition, exploring what conservationists are doing in the field. Atlantic was keen to push technological boundaries with the project, and worked with manufacturers to find new and innovative ways to capture wildlife from a different perspective. Another UK-based prodco, Icon Films of the natural history production enclave in Bristol, has also focused on pushing the boundaries of new technology in natural history. Harry Marshall, creative director of Icon, says this is because blue-chip programming is evolving quickly, much like the animals it aims to capture – and some of these changes are altering the demographics. “Natural history filmmaking needs to obey the most important principle of natural history,” he says. “We need to evolve; we need to adapt to survive. You can’t stay like you are, so evolution is the key to success.” He gives the example of Icon’s flagship blue- chip documentary Savage Kingdom, produced for Nat Geo Wild, which follows a pride of Lions in Savute, Botswana, likening the elements of the programme to the arcs of characters in high-end, epic television drama. Marshall uses the specific example of a lioness, Matsumi, who oscillated between fearing her male mate, who killed her cubs, and seeking his protection as a parallel with HBO’s swords ‘n’ shields epic Game of Thrones. “Natural history tended to be self-censoring, After working with Attenborough on eleven of the social media platforms and on virtual but we decided we really wanted to push the projects, Geffen knows there’s always drama in reality, which bounced back to create a richer envelope a bit more, and obviously Game of the natural world, and it’s a case of working out experience and greater ratings,” he says. Thrones was the big series on HBO,” he says. the narrative and capturing it. New technology Diversifying through new platforms “I don’t know why natural history feels that allows filming crews to capture never-seen- has helped to engage a new generation of it should be in some way given diplomatic before footage and create new scenarios. conservation enthusiasts. Atlantic’s 20-minute immunity not to chase ratings, and not to be Geffen suggests that engaging audiences immersive VR experience of the Great Barrier as contemporary and zeitgeist as any other on multiple platforms is central to attracting Reef had a sell-out run at London’s Natural genre. younger viewers. He cites the example History Museum, with lots of positive feedback “We focused on the rise and fall of of Atlantic’s Great Barrier Reef with David from millennials. individuals, and the stories of power and Attenborough, which was for UK broadcaster Geffen suspects that the VR experience, betrayal, greed and hubris. You’ll find all of BBC One. “We worked flat out across some which was also shown in Australia, may even those traits in Game of Thrones.”
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Factualp12-15 Nat History AprMay17jwSC.indd 13 22/03/2017 15:22 GENRE FOCUS FACTUAL FOR MILLENNIALS
Mission Galapagos
action clip such as of a lion being stomped on by a charging giraffe. The binge-watching generation comes with perks, of course. The development of new players in the market with large budgets such as Netflix and Amazon, make original commissioning of natural history documentaries a more viable prospect – indeed Netflix has commissioned a four-year project, Our Planet, which comes from the team behind the original Planet Earth and debuts in 2019. Natural history can attract the same kind of millennial audiences to the online streaming services, claims Marshall, making for a “very exciting prospect” for programme Savage Kingdom commissioners and producers alike. He says: “All of my colleagues are salivating at the Furthering the sense of dramatic scripting, Marshall says that the character development prospect of being commissioned on Netflix or Marshall recruited Charles Dance, who plays in season one makes season two a “richer” HBO Now.” arch overlord Tywin Lannister in Game of prospect. “It’s about development and depth, CuriosityStream is part of this new streaming Thrones, as narrator. “He totally saw the and that you can’t get in just clips that people generation. The two-year-old SVOD service parallels between Game of Thrones and Savute, pop up and watch on YouTube,” he adds. specialises in science and natural history and the same visceral life and death struggle However, there are certain, distinct programming. Chief programming officer Steve for power,” says the Icon creative chief. characteristics of television viewing amongst Burns has a three-strand approach to content: The documentary has since been millennials – Marshall claims “they’re snackers using the newest technology to open up wildlife commissioned for a second season, titled and bingers”. He says the middle ground habitats to scientific discovery, hearing directly Savage Kingdom II, which will be launched at is disappearing, and people either want an from wildlife photographers themselves, and the end of this year. immersive box-set binge or a short ten-second adding blue-chip documentaries such as Blue
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Factualp12-15 Nat History AprMay17jwSC.indd 14 22/03/2017 15:22 GENRE FOCUS FACTUAL FOR MILLENNIALS
Planet and Planet Earth to the service, some of which can be watched in 4K. One of CuriosityStream’s most-successful documentaries is David Attenborough’s Light on Earth, a natural history one-off focusing on the small creatures lighting up our oceans and forests. The science-based documentary is a coproduction with Terra Mater Factual Studios, Ammonite and the BBC. Burns says Light on Earth allows audiences to see ground-breaking images through new technology and scientific knowledge. Through specialised high-speed cameras, thousands of times more sensitive than previous models, Ammonite producer Martin Dohrn and his team were able to capture previously unseen bioluminescent creatures such as fireflies. There has been a clear rise in natural history David Attenborough’s Light on Earth subscribers on CuriosityStream, claims Burns, though the service does not currently break that down into demographic parts and doesn’t give video content on their phones. expand this incubator format to another show, out subscriber numbers. Much like Geffen, he For Barcroft, image quality isn’t everything, Cute as Fluff. acknowledges the importance of new media unlike many factual producers at the more However, the digital firm acknowledges the platforms in changing viewing patterns. expensive end of the production pile. “A lot importance of longer blue-chip documentaries “Mobile is increasing across the industry, of the content that we produce is shot in a too. “Planet Earth is one of the things that made certainly on our site, but we can be viewed on news format rather than a blue-chip natural me happiest in recent times in our industry, any format, including your big screen TV and history format,” says Barcroft. “We use a lot because it’s shown that wonderful creativity your desktop,” he says. “We’re finding people of user-generated content where you would mixed with amazing real moments in natural who are watching us on all three of these say the quality is a lot lower than if it was shot history still has a huge audience,” says Barcroft. platforms, so mobile’s a very strong element.” professionally, but from our point of view, That said, he notes that these productions Interestingly though, the highest percentage it adds an air of authenticity, which is really cost a lot of money, so there is room for Barcroft of CuriosityStream subscribers are still viewing important to drive engagement.” Animals to exist besides BBC Earth, Nat Geo natural history programmes on Roku, Apple Some still associate UGC content with Wild and Animal Planet. TV and Amazon Fire TV, he adds, perhaps teenagers’ camera phones, but the reality Even at the high-end, execs note that, reflecting habits of an older audience. is often far from it. The Barcroft Animals comparatively speaking, the genre is not as Meanwhile, UK-based Barcroft TV specialises YouTube channel makes series such as Wildest expensive as dramas, especially those such as in engaging audiences through short-form Animal Rescues from NGO footage of medical Game of Thrones. documentaries across media platforms. Sam procedures. The channel’s most recent video Natural history programming, like the wildlife Barcroft, founder and CEO of the Barcroft was of a turtle injured by a propeller, which was it represents, is constantly adapting and evolving Media Group, says: “Our company started as a filmed by aid workers and vets, and received a in order to survive and capture new audiences. news company, so a lot of the content we put lot of engagement on Facebook. When Vice Media chief Shane Smith spoke at up online are mini-documentaries, and that The ubiquity of phone cameras nowadays the Edinburgh International Television Festival is because over the past few years the mobile is also creating opportunity. “If you add a earlier this year, he summarised what was phone has become the predominant way that television producer’s mindset to great content, behind the hipster brand’s success in capturing young people consume content.” you can tell stories really well, and if you have millennial audiences, pushing the boundaries In this format, he says, it is easier to reach the power of social media distribution on top and updating the format, but actually using young people with shorter pieces of content. of that you can share them across the world relatively traditional subject matter. Short-form also has the advantage of economy: instantly,” says Sam Barcroft. “We changed our brand from a hipsters’ long-form works less well on advertiser-funded With over 111,000 subscribers to its YouTube bible talking about rare denim, cocaine video-on-demand platforms such as YouTube. Barcroft Animals channel, the company and supermodels to doing environmental Barcroft says that although his streaming incorporates clips from that platform into full programming, social justice, women’s issues, service connects most often with younger shows. “We view it as a development incubator and, of course, music… And guess what? Our audiences, it was not a conscious choice by the for long-form premium series,” says Barcroft. business grew. Our audience exploded. We company to go after them: younger people just The latest project is a long-form version made more money, which is good because tend to have the time and inclination to watch of Snapped in the Wild, and Barcroft hopes to more money means more content.” TBI
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Factualp12-15 Nat History AprMay17jwSC.indd 15 22/03/2017 15:22 LAST WORD THOMAS VINER, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, PIONEER PRODUCTIONS LAST WORD THOMAS VINER Factual TV in a post truth world
couple of years ago, this information about the real world. There seem really documentary or specialist factual?); but would have been more of a to be two sides to this – one is the waning we have to deliver truly fascinating content eulogy than a state-of-the- of the fashion for reality shows, especially that people are going to be talking about the genre address. Not now. for male audiences; the other is a rediscovery next day. As reality starts to fade and that there is a substantial viewership out That also means judging our audience scriptedA takes over a bigger and bigger part there who just want the facts, delivered in cleverly. If you’re doing a space show for of the landscape, specialist factual is actually an entertaining way, but who have a real Science Channel, it’s a fairly safe bet that enjoying a resurgence. Maybe because it has interest in history or science. These aren’t your viewers are already interested in space, a tendency to be true. niche interests but they were underserved as shown by the ever increasing figures for Specialist factual is a UK term, for which audiences for much of the last decade. our head-hurting cosmology show How The there seems to be no equivalent in the rest But the key word in all of this is Universe Works. If you’re doing it for BBC of the television world: it covers science, ‘entertaining’. There is room for a certain One, you’ve probably got to persuade them history, natural history, maybe religion, often amount of ‘lecture with pictures’ but the to be interested in the first place. A show adventure, archaeology. Everything from lecturer had better be damn good (Mary like Mutiny has a multi-layered appeal; it’s high-end cosmology on Horizon to living Beard for instance or Lucy Worsley). Beyond survival, with a present tense narrative of history like Mutiny or 24 Hours In The Past; that, specialist factual is working harder than men against the odds (and yes, at least one from medicine in Trust Me I’m A Doctor or ever to try to win over viewers. of them has a beard before they even start), Gabriel Weston’s Incredible Medicine, through A great way to think about it is the ‘point but it’s also a history show about one of the Planet Earth II to Your Face Says It All or of entry’. We live in a world where there most incredible journeys of all time, and it’s a Nova. We also have to include all the crime are hundreds of channels and thousands of revelation of the hardships of the lives people shows that aren’t documentaries, since they other calls on our attention. As programme once lived. too mostly come out of specialist factual makers we have to accept that we’re in a fight It’s also needs to learn to be more production companies. for eyeballs. Just because we make it doesn’t “clippable”. There’s a who audience out there Right now, it feels like there is a return to mean viewers will come. And specialist factual for short form, on YouTube, and we ignore real content-driven programming, especially is at the heart of this. We can try to answer a them at our peril. outside the UK. From National Geographic’s real questions people have about the world In a post-truth world, how does specialist Mars to entirely content-driven channels around them – specialist factual tends to deal factual survive? Maybe as the sole purveyor like Smithsonian and Science, there’s more with a lots of whys? and hows? and how-tos. of verifiable fact? Whatever the form, there of an appetite than there has been for some We can promise spectacle and event; we can are certain essentials – we have to tell great time for shows that actually contain real borrow from other genres (is 24 Hours In A&E stories in an entertaining way, that connect to our viewers’ lives, whether helping them make sense of the world around them through history or science, or restoring a sense of wonder through natural history. In a post-truth world, how does We have to innovate, constantly show them things they have never seen before and film specialist factual survive? it in new ways with new narrative structures. We have to be ambitious, confident that bigger sometime is better, and that we have Maybe as the sole purveyor of something important and contemporary to say. If we do all that, specialist factual isn’t verifiable fact? going anywhere. TBI
16 TBI Factual April/May 2017 For the latest in TV programming news visit TBIVISION.COM
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